The Sunday Mail
Levi Mukarati and Grace Kaerasora
Zimbabwe will not sit on its laurels, but will defend itself and its rights against hostile countries, President Mugabe has said. He said freedom was the driving force behind all those who fought the liberation struggle and it should be safeguarded. President Mugabe was speaking during the burial of national hero Cde Zenzo Ntuliki at the National Heroes Acre yesterday.
“Our people must live a life, know what life is to the best of the knowledge that God has given us,” he said.
“But what we have also learnt is that we bequeath legacies, restore legacies, lead nhaka, lead children, generations, one generation leads another and that appears to be for us a kind of eternity of life.
“We should not be denied that by any other nation.
“We must have the rights to exploit our resources, our gold, our diamonds and to have our land for our agriculture to grow what we love and to manage the country as a whole.
“What we have decided is to be the masters of our destiny.
“If a foreign country decides to be hostile, we must defend ourselves… they have historically acquired other people’s lives, we say no, our rights, we say no.
“This is historic, a story we are writing through our struggle of fighting for our rights, our joy and the legacy of our generations of Zimbabwe so no other nation can disturb that continuity of life.
“Let us not forget also kune avo vandandataura who might want to make what is not theirs to be their own and take other people’s resources and make them their own.”
President Mugabe said Zimbabweans should be on the look out for some nations that want to exert their influence on the country.
He said there are various security arms in the country that ensure protection of the nation from external forces as well as internal criminal elements.
He implored the police to deal with those engaging in criminality.
“Vamwe nevarume vakuru raping small, small babies. Mbavha, mhondi ndodzinoda kukanganisa hupenyu, nadzo nadzo,” said President Mugabe
“But in a greater way, tiri kuti kuvanhu vedu vanenge vari kuchipurisa mbavha dzese idzi nadzo nadzo saaaa.
“Dzikasungwa itsitsi zvadzo dzatinoita nekuti murawo unozoti hamubva mapondera vanhu vamunosunga asi vatinhirei kudanga.
Kuye kumajeri, mugokiya ne key dzakanaka. Saka ikokowo ndokunobva imwe security yekuona kuti ny’any’a dzinokanganisa hupenyu hwakarwirwa nanaZenzo vachizvipira hukanganiswe.
Cde Ntuliki died at Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo after a long illness.
The late nationalist whose nom de guerre was Cde Maphekapheka Robson Shongoto was born in 1959 in Matshethseni area, Esigodini in Gwanda, Matabeleland South Province.
He could not complete his education after skipping to Botswana to join the liberation struggle under the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (Zipra).
Cde Ntuliki was initially based at Selebi Pikwe in Francistown, but was later transferred to Nampundu base in Zambia which was under the command of Cde Ahmed Gutu.
In 1978, the late intelligence chief was sent to Tanzania where he received training at Mgagao and Morogoro camps for eight months under the command of Cde Sam Fakazi.
